History Through Fiction - The Podcast

In the final episode of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction, Colin Mustful, chats with Lauren Belfer, author of the novel Ashton Hall. During the interview, Belfer talks about how we go about rediscovering the past, using authentic historical details to create and maintain trust with her readers, and the challenges and importance of writing a neurodivergent c...

In episode 13 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction, Colin Mustful, chats with Nicola Matthews, author of the novel Kitty Canham. During the interview, Matthews talks about the local lore of the real Kitty Canham, the rhythm of the seasons she experiences living in North Essex, and her journey from theater acting to fiction writing in her forties. She also t...

In episode 12 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction, Colin Mustful, chats with Robert Bruton, author of the Double Edged Sword Series: Empire Resurgent, Empire in Apocalypse, and Empire in Twilight. During the interview, Bruton talks about the life of Byzantine Military Commander Belisarius, the reason he writes fiction instead of nonfiction, and how 6th cen...

In episode 11 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction, Colin Mustful, chats with Stephanie Landsem, author of the novel Code Name Edelweiss. During the interview, Landsem talks about the rise of facism in the 1930s, the life and heroism of Leon Lewis, and the way she defines success as an author. Don’t miss it!

In episode 10 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction Colin Mustful chats with David Tory, author of the Stanfield Chronicles: Exploration and Retribution. During the interview, Tory talks about the English Separatists of the 16th and 17th centuries and why they came to the “New World.” He also talks about his career as a computer engineer and philanthropist,...

In episode 9 of our Author Spotlight series, Founder and Editor of History Through Fiction, Colin Mustful, chats with Chaya Rochel Zimmerman, author of the novel The Next Pair of Shoes. During the interview, Zimmerman talks about her grandparents and their escape from the Pogroms in Poland, the challenges for today’s Jewish Orthodox community, and the meaning of communal self-reflection. Don’t mis...

In episode 8 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction Colin Mustful chats with our very own Patricia Bernstein, author of the novel A Noble Cunning. During the interview, Bernstein talks about the history of Catholic persecution in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, her transition from writing nonfiction to fiction, and her route to publication. Don’t m...

In episode 7 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction Colin Mustful chats with Edie Cay, author of A Viscount’s Vengeance. During the interview, Cay talks about her decision to write regency romances, some of the famous female boxers that have inspired her stories, her route to indie publishing, and the author marketing collective she belongs to, Paper Lantern...

In episode 6 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction Colin Mustful chats with Wanda M. Morris, author of Anywhere You Run. During the interview, Morris talks about the historical background of the novel, her decision to alternate between third and first-person points of view, using her writing to highlight important civil rights issues, and the Spotify playlis...

In episode 5 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction Colin Mustful chats with Gail S. Fraser, author of the novel Song for the Widowmaker. During the interview, Fraser talks about the history of jute spinning, the value of fiction to fill in historical gaps, travel research she did for the novel, and the way she incorporated authentic music into the story. Don...

In episode 4 of our Author Spotlight Series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction Colin Mustful chats with Ciera Horton McElroy, author of the novel Atomic Family. During the interview, McElroy talks about her process of revising first drafts, how her own family history relates to her new novel, and the connections that the Cold War era has with political and social issues of today. Don’t...

In episode 3 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction Colin Mustful chats with Joanna Politano, author of the novel The Lost Melody. During the interview, Joanna talks about the science behind music therapy, the asylum system during the Victorian era, and where she gets the ideas for her novels. Don’t miss it!

In episode 2 of our Author Spotlight podcast series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction Colin Mustful chats with Alina Rubin, author of the novel A Girl With A Knife. During the interview, Alina talks about her inspiration to begin writing after years of working in IT, the historical women who inspired her main character Ella Parker, and some important advice she received from an editor...

In episode 1 of our Author Spotlight series, founder and editor of History Through Fiction chats with Elan Barnehama, author of the novel Escape Route. During the interview, Barnehama talks about the influence Bob Dylan’s music had on him in his youth, the importance of breaking the cycle of generational trauma, and what it truly means to be a New Yorker. Don’t miss it! 

History Through Fiction is proud to announce our upcoming podcast series “Author Spotlight”, featuring fourteen new interviews with historical novelists talking about their books, their craft, and their journeys to publication. New episodes will be released weekly beginning Monday, January 16. 

In our final episode of Season 3, host Colin Mustful chats with Addison Armstrong about her new novel The War Librarian. During the conversation, Armstrong talks about her love of words and reading, the challenges of writing a dual timeline narrative, and the inspiration she receives from her sister who is studying professional aviation at Auburn University. She also talks about the history of war...

In Season 3, Episode 14 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful chats with Elizabeth Churchill, author of the novel Desolation of the Wicked City. During the conversation, Churchill talks about the history of piracy in Jamaica, the challenges of being a lawyer and fiction writer, and the process of starting her own press, Baroness Publishing. Finally, she inspires listeners by...

In Season 3, Episode 13 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful chats with Eileen Brill, author of the novel A Letter in the Wall. During the conversation, Brill talks about the letter she found the wall of her home that inspired this story. She also talks about the research she did to learn more about the women who write the letter, how she creates relatable, complex character...

In Season 3, Episode 12 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful chats with Taylor Brown, author of Wingwalkers. During the conversation, Brown talks about the unique tidbit of information in William Faulkner’s biography that inspired him to write this story. He also talks about the history of Barnstorming, his long and precarious road to success as an author, and his own backgr...

In Season 3, Episode 11 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful chats with Liza Nash Taylor, author of the novel In All Good Faith. During the conversation, Taylor talks about using her home at Keswick farm as a prominent setting for her novels. She also talks about the history of candy making (yum!), her background in the fashion industry, and the transition to writing fiction...

In Season 3, Episode 10 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful chats with Alina Adams, author of My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region. During the conversation, Adams talks about basing the novel on the family stories she heard growing up as an immigrant from the Soviet Union. She also talks about the history of the Jewish Autonomous Region, her experienc...

In Season 3, Episode 9 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful chats with Michael X. Wang about his new novel Lost in the Long March. During the conversation, Wang talks about leaving medical school to pursue being a writer, the Communist propaganda he discovered that led him to research Mao’s Long March, and the advantage of using fiction to give readers a fuller view of histo...

In Season 3, Episode 8 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful chats with Roberta Seret about her new three part historical novel series Transylvania Trilogy. During the conversation, Seret talks about creating a hybrid voice that combines history and fiction, the history of Romania and how it became a part of the European Union and NATO, and about Romania’s involvement in the...

In Season 3, Episode 7 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, guest host and HTF author Alina Adams chats with L. Bordetsky-Williams, author of Forget Russia. During the conversation, Adams and Bordetsky-Williams talk candidly about their families’ histories in Soviet Russia and the improbable notion of returning to the Soviet Union from America. They also talk about their thoughts on cultural a...

In Season 3, Episode 6 of History Through Fiction: The Podcast, host Colin Mustful chats with Alena Dillon about her new novel Eyes Turned Skyward. During the conversation, Dillon talks about the Women Airforce Service Pilots or W.A.S.P. program, the decade-long process of revising the novel, her long and uncertain path to publication, her transition from nonfiction to fiction, and the perseveranc...